0 t JJLLAR PER ANNUM INVARIABLY IN ADVANCE.
TOWANDA :
Thursday morning, January 10,1861.
MESSAGE.
To the Honorable the Senators and Members
„t the House of Representatives of the Com
vimueeallh f Transylvania :
sti.kmes In submitting to the Gener-
Y-sembly niv last annual communication, it
s the source of unfeigned gratification to be
able to announce to the people, and to their
Uppresentatives, that notwithstanding the
..resent unfavorable crisis in the monetary af
j ,jrs of this country, and the general prostra
te',n of business and credit, the financial con
dit.on of Pennsylvania is highly satisfactory.
The receipts at the State Treasury, from all
sources, for the fiscal year ending ou the 30th
of November, 1800, were $3,470,257 31, to
which add the available buluuoe in the iieas
urv on the Ist day of December, 1859, $839,-
L 'o 09, and the whole sum available lor the
vear will be found to be $4,318,580 40. iiie
expenditures, for all purpo>es, tor the same
'£d, were $3,037,147 32. Leaving an
available balance in the Treasury, on the Ist
dav of December, 1860, of 631,433 08. Ine
following items are embraced iu the expendi
tures for the fiscal year, v.z :
i. gewaoai naig
Ke'.tvl • .-sPfpLvA •> ui ""
Interest a-rtiti .a.j s---- -• • '-
Pome-tie creditor'scn-tibc t. - ......
Damages ou public work-. \ e.J claims —h-14 .1.
Making, of the public debt actually paid
during thenar, the oi ShJl.tj, SJ
The muded and unfunded debt ol" the Com
ttiouwealth ou the firat day of December, 1359,
wu- us to.lows :
KI ND .0 IIEBT.
f, nor cent loan- $ 10(1 /."JO 00
37,(i2.>,ir>a at
4 ; di< a-xs.Aoo oo
' a.j we,Ooo oo
T funded debt Js.jlU.U.-U 07
LNFCNDLO DEBT.
: notes in circulation |101.213u0
lull-rest certificates outstanding 18,51A S3
OJ uucUiuiuii 4.44s US
Domestic creditors -02 do
total unfunded debt .. 131,077 7u
Making the entire debt of the Common
wealth, at the period named, $38,648,901 07.
The funded and iitduudeii uebl ot the fituie,
ut the close of the lu;t lineal year, Dec. 1, '6O,
stood as foliow s:
I IMJED i>:;cr.
fi per cent Joans #IOO 13!) 00
4c d<, ;?Sl,2tW (HJ
4 (lu 100,000 00
Total funded debt ... 37,549,125 72
lmtndkd nr.nr.
i Itt-i.uf note-i in circulation 90.402 00
l ...u-re-t certilkaU -, outstanding If>.u74 110
I fW I lls Its
I Dwestic creditors' certificates 797 10
Total undiluted debt 120.72176
Making the entire public debt of Pennsyl
niiia, on the first day of December, Inst, $37,-
.'>'.*,B47 50.
to pay the principal and interest of this
debt, besides the ordinary sources of-revenue,
the Commonweath holds the following mort
gage bonds, derived from the sale of her pub
!v improvements, viz •
..Is of Penasvlvauia railroad company $7,200,00 • *u
i! a.U nf Siinb rv and line raili.<;nl C'u. 3/>oo,l>oii 00
Bands of WyotntitJ caul corj;>ar.\ 2*1,00' 00
T :i. .. 10,061.000 00
A; '.i.t . -c of the it-cat year, on the tirst
dav i i Dt-, ember, I- '7. the public debt
i.i -. ii> Co u uiinwcaltii, funded and uu
tuuded was $39,381,733 22
It i- u. a, at the clo.-c of the fiscal year
bSO #37,909,647 50
Having been reduced during the last 3 y'rs 1 yqi 72
D-iv lable balance in the Treasury on
w hr-t day ot Dec. 1657, was $.<26,101; 47
vii ■ .; -t day uf Dec. 1-00. it was ... t>si,4A3 06
''rr?C'Y-.j{ -' .rmer balance in ttie sum of 153,325 01
J i to tltis the sum j.aid at the Treasury
■iirnu- the past thiee years, tor debts
#a. I.i i- against the Commonwealth
i... ng out of the construction aud
iintainance of t!ie pub!i<- improve
wats, and which was substantially
of the uutuuued debt of the t'orn
aomviallh, amouutiug to 171,004 82
And we have the sum of 324,991 42
I>y adding this sum to the aruouut paid on
ac public debt from December 1, 1857, to
DwMiber 1, 1S'0, io wit: $1,911,890 72,
it V:il be lound that during the past three
ars the State has not only met all her ordi-
Mrv liabilities, including the expenses ot go
verotnpnt, and the interest on Iter public debt,
but h is diminished hrr actual indebtedness the
earn of $2,236,882 15.
Cheilitis remembered that for the last
'-..roe years the tax on real and persoual estate
been Let two und a half mills on the dol
-w, while from 1844 to 1857 it was three
wills—that for the past two years aud six
•Girths the State has received no part of the
•ax ijq tonnage due from the Pennsylvania
railroad company—and that since July, 1859,
•ue interest on the bonds held by the Slate
•7mutt the Sunbury and Erie railroad compa
:.v has remained due and unpaid, it is certainly
ft '° r ' iea: t >' cougratrtldtion, that without
U!! r rom these important sources ot revenue, so
tgeat u reduction of the public debt has been
omphslied in comparatively so short a pe
f" lb* s fufldt-d debt of the State is now
> Ul -' l ' liiS s ' Doe and unfunded
3 • lating debt, which at that time amount
n almost entirely redeemed. It is now re-
Jwd to $129,721" 78-and of this sum over
"ifcly oue tLou?aud dollars consists of relief
f', n J ost which are undoubtedly either
j-. ui <ie.>troytd, and will, therefore, never be
.or payment. The claims against
r ,..-.j, dte ' accru '"g f r °ia the construction aud
j, 0w u ' fcr canals aud railroads, are
Ue Z. ' < to a tnere "° iai!lal SUi 5 aa <-l, i.i
ntare, after providing for the ordinary ex-
Pcusc of government, her revenues and'her
Sof T eXc!l,Bive| y PP*<l to the pay-
Sin 11?' ntc^V,? n,! the
k l al u * her public debt.
/tofthudl w tmrtstfO at niial .I • ■. ~ V." "■ -*:{ *">'■ if, - t ' t*" "j a . f f T *' {< *} )U nteil • ij.noj;
-, #ii iin fctl a! I *J( * 4 fe i 4 ##|Jk Vk Tfl ff 4 f
Tho people of this Commonwealth have
hitherto met, with promptness, the demands
made upou them, from time to time, for the
ways and means of replenishing the public
Treasury ; and now, that they see that the
onerous debt with which they have beeu so
long burdened, is each year certainly and ra
pily disappearing—that the amount required
to meet the interest is annually being dimin
ished—that consequently a still greater sum
can each year be devoted to the reduction of
the principal of the debt, without resorting to
additional sources of revenue—and that, with
a proper husbanding of the resources of the
State, the day is riot far distant when direct
taxation in Pennsylvania will cease altogether
—the payment of such taxes as may for the
time be required to meet the public necessities,
will continue to be met with cheerfulness and
alacrity. But they will unquestionably hold
those to whose care they bavo entrusted the
financial interests of the State to a ri:;id ac
countability. That there should, at this par
ticular juncture, when the business and mone
tary affairs of the country are so greatly de
pressed, lie the strictest economy in public ex
penditures, is so manifest, that it can scarcely
tie necessary to call attention to so plain a du
ty. It is equally clear that any legislation
which would tend greatly to lessen the reven
ues of the Commonwealth, would, at this time,"
be peculiarly unwise and inexpedient. The
exigencies of the future no tnau can foretell—
the prospect before us is beclouded with doubt
and uncertainty—it is therefore, no more than
the part of wisdom to guard, with unceasing
vigiiance, all our present sources of revenue,
and to thus be prepared for every possible con
tingency.
Since July, 1858, the Pennsylvania railroad
company has refused to pa/ the tax ou ton
nage required to be paid by the act incorpor
ating the company, and its various supple
ments ; and there is now due to the State, on
that account, exclusive of interest, the sum of
$674,296 22. lucluding the interest, the
sum now due is about $700,000. Before my
last annual message was communicated to the
Legislature, a case had been tried in the court
of common plea-of Dauphin county, betweeu
the Commonwealth and the railroad company,
involving the question of the constitutionality
of this tax, which was decided in favor of the
State, and the imposition of the tax pronoun
ced constitutional. In January last, another
suit was tried between the same parties, in the
same court, involving the same question, with
a like result, in December last, a judgment
was obtained in the district court of Philadel
phia, upon one of the semi-animal settlements,
for $1 li>,ooo. So that judgment has been
obtained for $365,000 of the debt, being the
whole amount which became due prior to
1960. Tim tax which accrued during the past
year, amounts to £303,829 03. The first set
tlement for the year is before the Dauphin
County court, on an appeal taken by the com
pany ; and the second, or last, settlement was
made but a few days since, by the accountant
department of the Commonwealth.
After the recovery, in the common pleas of
Dauphiu county, the cases were removed by
writs of error, taken on behalf of the defend
' ants, to the Supreme Court of this St ,te,
' where they were argued in June last, and in
: October that tribanal sustained the decision of
. riie court of corution pica®, utid held tlie tax
j to he t-ieurly constitutional : thus uniting with
1 the law making power in affirming the right of
the State to tax a corporation under a law to
which it owes its existence. But, notwith
standing this concurrence of opinion and ac
tion on behalf of the constituted authorities
or Pennsylvania, the litigation is not yet at
an end ; for the railroad company has recent
ly removed the cases, bv writs of error, to the
Supreme Court of the United States, w uere
they are now pending. Tuat the decision of
that court will, when made, fullv sustain the
right of a sovereign State to enforce a con
tract between the State and a corporation, and
entirely vindicate the power of a State to im
pose such taxes upen corporations, as in her
sovereign will she may deem proper, I cannot
for a moment doubt.
To complete the history of this important
litigation, and to show that every effort has
been, thus far, made to compel the payment
of this Inrtre sum of money into the Treasury
of the State, it is proper to add, that the law
officer of the Commonwealth, being of opinion
that the writs of error were not i-sued from
the Supreme conrt of the United States in
time to prevent the collection of the judg
ments rendered in the State courts, executions
were issued to the Sheriff of the County of
Dauphin, and proeediugs are now pending in
the Supreme Court of this State, to determine
whether the Commonwealth can compel the
payment of the judgments already recovered,
before the final rfK-ision by the Supreme Court
of the United States.
The Scnbury and Erie railroad compauy
having failed to negotiate its mortgage bonds
iu their present condition, the expectations
confidently entertained of an early completion
of that most irnj>ortant improvement, have not
been realized. The work daring the past year,
however, akhongh greatly retarded, has been
continually progressing; upwards of one mil
lion of dollars having beeu expended ou the
lute froui November, itio'J, to November, ISGO.
The whole length ot the road, from the boro'
of Suubury to the harbor ou the lake, ut the
city of Erie, is -'tis mile* ; of which 1-18 miles
ate now finished and iu operatiou, unJ 115
utiles of the remaining portion of the line are
graded ; leaving but twenty-five miles yet to
grade. Pennsylvania is largely interested iu
the early completion and success of this great
thoroughfare, not ouly because she is the cred
itor of the coutpauy to the amount of three
and a half millions of dollars, but for the ad
ditional, and more cogent reason, that the im
provement, w hen completed, v ill opeu one of
the most important channels of trade between
the city of Philadelphia aud the great lakes
of the west, at the best harbor on Lake Erie,
entirely within the limits of our own State,
which lias ever been contemplated, it will,
moreover, develop the resources of a 'urge
PUBLISHED EVERY THURSDAY AT TOWANDA, BRADFORD COUNTY, PA., BY R W. STURROCK.
portion of north western Pennsylvania, abound
ing with the richest minerals, and a lumber
region of unsurpassed excellence, which the
munificent hand of the State has hitherto to
tally neglected. By disposing of her branch
canals to that company, in exchange for its
mortgage bonds, the State has already large
ly aided in the construction of this great
work ; and it may be necessary, to insure its
completion, that further legislation should be
had in order to render the means of the com
pany available. It is evident that a libera!
policy, on the part of the government, wiil
promote alike the interests of the Common
wealth and the railroad company ; neverthe
less, great eare should bo taken to protect, as
far as possible, the debt now due from the
company to the State. If all propositions
which may be made for a change in the secu
rities now held by the Commonwealth, be
carefully considered by tlie Legislature, and
no more yielded than sound economy demands,
with proper provision for the due application
of whatever means may be realized, it is be
lieved, that sutlicicnt relief can be granted to
the company, to enable it promptly to finish
the road, while the security remaining will be
fully adequate to insure the ultimate payment
of the principal and interest of the bonds of
the railroad company now held by the Com
monwealth.
I recommend this subject to the Legislature,
a- one entitled to its most careful consideration,
as well on account of its vast importance to
that portion of the State through which the
railroad passes—to the cities of Philadelphia
and Erie—and to the railroad compauy—as to
the Commonwealth herself. Premising that
whatever policy it may be thought expedient
to pursue, should be adopted solely with ref
erence to the protectiou uud furtherance of
the public interests.
The attention of the Legislature is again
invited to the subject of general education.—
At the preseut juncture it presents peculiar
claims. The experience of a quarter oi' a eeu
turv has sa tilled the proverbially cautious peo
ple uf Pennsylvania, of the adapleduess ot the
common school .yateiu to tleir wants und con
dition. Mo le<s has the severe ordeal of the
past three years shown its capability to endure
those sudden reverses which occasionally pros
trate the other interests of the community.—
Involving greater expenditure than the rest of
the departments of government, and that, too,
mainly drawn from direct taxation, it i 3 a p:oud
tact, that, while most of the enterprises of
society have beeu seriously embarrassed, and
some of them suspended, by the pecuniary crisis
of 1857, our educational system has not been
returned in any appreciable degree. On tiie
contrary, its operations have been maintained,
to an extent which plainly indicates that our
citizens fully appreciate its value. Contrasting
its main results during the past year, with
those of 1857, we find that the whole number
of pupils now in the schools, is 647,414, being
an increase af 44,422; these were taught iu
1 1,577 schools, 621 more than iu 1857, dur
ing an average term of five mouths and five
aud one-half days, at a cost of fifty-six cents
per pupil, per month, by 14,065 teachers,
being 529 more than iu 1 bO7. The entire ex
penditure of the system, for the past year in
cluding thai of the School Department, is $2-,
638,550 90. These figures afford some idea
of the magnitude of the operations of the svs
tem; but neither words nor figures eau adequ
ately express the importance of its influence up
on the present, or its re'atioas to the fuutre.
In- contemplating the details of a plan for
the due training of the youth of a commit ui y,
iu large proportions and imposing array of
statistics do not display the points of its great
est importance. Pupils may be enrolled by
hundreds of tiiou.-aiuls; school houses of the
best structure and moat complete arrangement
may lie dotted at convenient distances over
the whole face of the land; the most perfect
order of studies may be adopted, and the best
possible selection of books made; but what are
all these, without the learned and skillful, the
faithful, moral aud devoted teacher ? Without
this animating spirit, all is barren and unfruit
ful. In tins vital department, lam happy to
announce that the improvement of the common
school teachers of the State shows more solid
advancement, within the past three years, than
any other branch of the system. This there
fore, I eing the point whence all real progress
in learning and culture must originate, is also
the one to which the fostering attention and
eare ot the public authorities should be mainly
directed.
Our peculiar mode of training teachers un
der the normal act of 1857, has now stood
the test of practical experience; and, against
the most adverse circumstances, has produced
results decisive of its success. Already it has
placed one institution iu full operation in the
south-eastern part of the State, equal in stand
ing aud extent to any in the Union. Another
with all the requirements of the law, has just
applied for Statu recognition in the extreme
north-west. I commend these noble, aud
peculiarly Pennsylvania schools, to your favor.
Aid to them will be the best investment that
can be made for the rising generation. Good
instruction for our children, is the strongest
earthly guarautee, that, whatever else we be
queath them, tlieir inheritance will be a bless
ing and not a curse; and if nothing more is
left, iu the well cultured tninds, the willing
hands, and the trust in God, of freemen, they
will have ail that is essential.
Nearly eleven thousand of our fellow citi
zens are now devoting their efforts to the im
provement of the eoiumoti school, as directors.
Thau this there is no more meritorious body of
nifu. An iucrease of the annual State appro
priation would not only be a material reliei to
the districts, at this time, but would, to some
cxtcut disembarrass directors in their local
operations.
It is not, however, the common school sys
tem, vast and honorable to the State as it is,
that claims your entire attention, iu reference
to education. Pennsylvania also boasts her
collegiate, academical, scientific, professional,
and philanthropic institutions, and numerous
private schools of even grade. Iu this rc
" REiiAIIDLESS OF DENUNCIATION FROM ANY QDATITER."
spect, she is second lo no member of the con
federacy; but, from mere wunt of attention to
the proper statistics, she has thus far been
ranked far below her just standard. The pres
ent is not the proper time to renew grants to
institutions of these classes which heretofore
received State aid. If it were, the public au
thorities do not possess the requisite data for
a safe and just extension of liberality. The
period will arrive when all public educational
agencies be included in one great system
for the elevation of mind and morals; aud when
the Stale will no doubt, patronize every proper
effort in the good work.
For the details of the system, during the
last school year, the attention of the Legisla
ture is respectfully referred to the annual re
port of the Common School Department,
herewith submitted.
1 detire again, specially, to cull the attention
of the General Assembly to the Farmer's
High School of Pennsylvania as an institution
which proposes to accomplish an object which
has never been attained in this country—the
supply of a waut which has ever been felt by
the agricultural community: the education of
their sons, at once, to scientific knowledge,
habitual industry, and practical skill, to fit
them for the associations of rural life, and the
occupation chosen for thorn by their fathers.
The gains of the farmer, however ccrtaiu, are
small. The education of his sous should there
fore, be measured by the nature of hisbusiuess.
There seemes to be no practical mode of cheap
ening education, hut by combining an amount
of expenditure, within the ability of a farmer,
with the daily labor of the student, so as to
make the institution so ueariy self sustaining
ns to bring it within the reach of that class
who constitute so important a branch of the
industry of our people. The oriirinnl design
of the school embraced the accommodation of
four hundred students, a number essential to
the economical working of the system; and
although the applications for admission are
numberless, the utmost efforts of the trustees
have cot enabled them to coinpletu more than
one-third of the liuildiusr, or to accommodate
more than a corresponding number of students.
Many individuals throught the State convinced
of the merit of an institution which promises so
"much irood, have contributed liberally to what
has already been done; aud the board of trus
tees have labored with a zeal which cauuot
fail to commend itself to the kind feeling of
all our citizens. Scientific education lias ad
vanced the interests of every. avocation of
iife—agriculture far less than any other—and
(or tho manifest reason that it has not reach
ed it to the same extent, aud never will reach
it, unless the body be educated to the plow,as
well ns the mind to the philosophical principles
which the plow's work deveiopes.
I have always looked upon the Farmer's
liigh School with peculiar favor, as well be
cause of my own convictions of its promised
usefulness, as the favor which has hitherto
been shown to it by the Representatives of
the people, its charter requires uu annual
exhibitiou of its receipts, expenditures and
operations generally, aud these will doubtless
be laid before you.
By the act passed by the last Legislature,
establishing a system of free banking in Penn
sylvania, an ! securing tiie public against
from insolvent banks, radical changes were
made in the banking laws of this btate. In
stead of corporations created by special laws,
voluntary associations are authorized to tansact
the business of banking, without further legis-
latiou, and a an indispensable prerequisite to
the iisuing of batik notes for circulation as
money, amp's security muA be deposited with
the Auditor General for their prompt redemp
tion. The law makes provision, not, only for
the incorporation of new banking associations,
but enables those banking institutions tuat are
already in existence, to continue tlieir business
fur twenty years after the expiration of their
present charters, upon complying with its pro
visions, by withdrawing their old circulation,
aud giving the securities required for tiie re
demption of their new issues. The public, I
am sure will rejoice that no further necessity
exists for legislative action, cither on tho sub
ject of creating new, or re-chartering aid
banks; and that the time aud attention of tlieir
Representatives wiil now, happilly, bo no
longer monopolized iu the consideration of a
subject hitherto productive of so much strife
and contention, if uot positive evil.
The rapid increase of private banks,through
out the State, makes it euiiueutiv right that
they should bo placed under proper legislative
restrictions, aud that the large amount ot
capital, thus employed, should he made to con-'
tribute its fair proportion to the revenues of
the Commonwealth. Their business, iu the
aggregate, is now blieved to amount to a sum
uitnost, if not quite, equal to the whole busi
ness of the regularly chartered banks; aud yet
it is entirely unrestricted, and with the excep
tion of a merely nominal license tax, is free
from taxation. This is unjust to every other
class of our tax paying citizens, and especially
so the banking institutions holding charters
from the Commonwealth, for which they have
each paid a liberal bonus, und are, in addition
subject to a very large tax on their dividends.
I respectfully commend this subject to the at
tention of the Legislature.
A high sense of duty impels me again to
call the attention of the Legislature lo the in
adequacy of existing laws, regulating the re
ceiving, keeping and disbursement of the rtv
nues of the State. The public moneys are
now paid directly to the State Treasurer, who
deposits them out iu sums, either small or great
upon his own unattested check exclusively.—
the amount thus received, kept and disbursed is
annually between three and four millions of
dollars, with balances on hand at times exceed
ing one million of dollars; while the bond of
the State Treasurer is tor only eighty thousand
dollars. His accounts are settled monthly by
the Auditor General, by whom the receipts
for tnouey paid into the Treasury are counter
signed, and these are the only safeguards pro
vided by law to prevent the illegal and impro
per use of the money of the State, by the btale
Treasurer
1 Happily the revenues of the Commonwealth
have hitherto beeu safely kept, properly dis
bursed, and promptly accounted for, by those
in charge of the Public Treasury; but in view
of the serious defalcations which have occurred
j elsewhere, aud in other States, this fact should
! furnish no reason why we ought not to guard
against loss in the future Referring to my
former anuual message, I respectfully, but
most earnestly, recommend that provision be
| made by law:
| First —That no money shall be deposited
| by the State Treasurer in any bank, or else
where, without first requiring ample security
to be given to the Commonwealth for the
i prompt repayment of such sum as may be
deposited: aud that such securities shall be
I deposited in tne office of the Auditor General.
J Second —That all checks Psnod by the State
' Treasurer, shall be countersigned by the
Auditor General, before they are ueed, and
that daily accounts shall be kept of the moneys
; received, deposited and disbursed, in the
i Auditor General's office, as well as in the
Treasury Department.
Third —That condensed monthly statements
verified by the signatures of the Auditor Gen-'
eral and State Treasurer, shall be published in
one newspaper in Philadelphia and one in
ILirrisbnrg, showing the balances in the
Treasury, and where deposited, with the par*
ticular amount ot each deposit; and
Fourth —Tuat the bond of the State Trea
surer be increased to the sum of two hundred
and fifty thousand dollars.
Our various charitable and reformatory in
stitutions—the State Lunatic Hospital at
Harrisburg—the Western Pennsylvania Hos
pital for tiie insane, at Pittsburg—the asylums
for the blind, and deaf and dumb, at Philadel
phia—the House of Refuge at Philadelphia
and Pittsburg, and the Pennsylvania Training
School for idiotic and feeble minded children,
at Media, will present their usual claims .upon
the bounty of the State. These excellent
charities are continually dispensing benefits
and blessings upon suffering and erring human
ity which can scarcely be overrated. They
are heartily commended to the discriminating
liberality of the Legislature. I refrain, as I
have heretofore done, from recommending, as
proper objects for appropriations from the
State Treasury, other charitable and benevo
lent institutions, not because they are undeserv
ing the confidence aad patronage of the public
but beeausc they are local in their character,
and in my judgment have no claims upon the
common fund which can he admitted, in jus
tice to the rights and interests of other por
tions of the Commonwealth.
The inspectors of the State Penitentiary for
the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, in their
annual reports for the years 1858 and 1859,
called the attention of the Legisleture to the
insecurity of such parts of the penitentiary
building as were exposed to their own fires and
those of the neighborhood, and recommended
that roofs of such of the corridors as were cov
ered with shingles, aud needed renewal,should
be replaced with slate or metal. Ou visiting
the institution, my attention was called to the
subject by the inspectors. Tho necessity for
the change was so apparent and urgent, that
I advised them not to hesitate i;i having the
old, dilapidated and dangerous woodeu roofs
of such portions of the building as required re
newal, replaced with some substantial fire
proof material. This has accordingly been
done, and 1 respectfully recomtneued that a
small appropriation be granted to defray the
expense incurred.
I commend to your com .deration tlm report
of the State Librarian, whose attention to the
intere.-ls of the Library under his care, deserves
the warmest comioeudarion. The system of
exchanges, with the different States of the
Union, and with foreign governments, com
menced and prosecuted under his auspices, has
resulted in great advantages to the Library,
and deserves the continued countenance of the
Legislature The increase of the Library, at
a comparatively small expense to the State,
has been such, that it now needs enlarged ac
commodations for the safe-keeping of the vol
umes, and, if the increase coutiuues, will soon
require a separate building for its exclusive
use.
The reports of the State Treasurer, the Au
ditor General, the Surveyor General, the Ad
jutant General, and the Attorney General,
will inform you in detail, of the operations of
the government, as presented by those several
departments, tor the last fiscal year. They
are entitled to the attentive consideration of
the Legislature.
Soon after my inauguration, upon the tec
omuieudatiou of iny predecessor in office, a
dwelling house was purchased in this city for
the residence of the Governor of the Com
monwealth. The purchase included several
articles of heavy furniture, then in the build
ing, and a suiall appropriation would complete
the necessary furnishing of the house, so as to
make it a fit and convenient residence for the
incoming Executive, i cheerfully recommend
the immediate passage of a bill makiug a suit
able appropriation for this purpose.
The extraordinary and alarming condition
of national f.ffsirs demands your immediate at
tention. On the twentieth day of December
last, the Convention of South Carolina, or
ganized under the authority of the Legislature
of that State, by a unanimous vote, declared
"that the uuioa now subsisting between South
Carolina and the other States, uuder the name
of the L nitcd States of America, is hereby
dissolved and the action already taken in
several other southern States indicates most
clearly, their intention to follow this example.
On behalf of the advocates of secession, it
is claimed, that this Uuiou is merely a compact
between the several States composing it, and
that any one of the States, which may feel
aggrieved, may at its pleasure, declare that it
will no louger be a party to the compact
This doctrine is clearly erroneous. The cou
stiluliou of the United Stales is something
more thau a mere compact, or agreement be
twecu the several States. As applied to na
tions, a compact is but a treaty, which may be
abrogated at the will of either pn#.y ; r&pou-
V OL. XXI. —NO. 32
sible to the other party lor its bad faith in re
fusing to keep its eugageineutf>, but entirely ir
responsible to any superior tribunal. A gov
ernment, on the other hand, whether created
by consent, or by conquest, when clothed with
legislative, judicial and executive powers, is
necessarily in its nature sovereigu ; and from
this sovereignty flows its right to enforce its
laws and decrees by civil process, and, in an
emergency, by its military and naval power.—
The government owes protection to the people,
and they, in torn, owe it their allegiance. Its
laws cannot be violated by its citizens, without
accountability to the tribunals created to en
force its decrees and to punish offenders. Or
ganized resistance to it is rebellion. If suc
cessful, it may be purged of crime by revolu
tion. If unsuccessful, the persons engaged iu
the rebellion, may be executed as traitors.—.
The government ol the United States, withia
the limits assigned to it, is as potential in sov
ereignty, as any other government in the civi
lized world. The Constitution, aud laws made
in pursuance thereof, are expressly declared to
be the supreme law of the land. Under the
Constitution, the general government has the
power to raise and support armies, to create
and maintain a navy, and to provide for calling
forth the militia to execute its laws, suppress
insurrection and repel invasion. Appropriate
statutes have been enacted by Congress, to aid
in the execution of these important govern
mental powers.
The creation of the Federal Government,
with the powers enumerated in the Constitu
tion, was the act of the people of the United
States, aud it is perfectly immaterial that the
people of the several States acted separately
within the territorial limits of each State.—
The form of their action is of no coosequence,
in view of the fact that they created a Fede
ral Government, to which l they surrendered
certaiu powers of sovereignty, aud declared
those powers, thus surrendered, to be supreme,
without reserving to the States, or to the peo
ple, the right of secession, nuliiflcatiou or oth
er resistance. It is, therefore, clear that there
is no constitutional right of secession. Seces
sion is only another form of nullification. Ei
ther, when attempted to be carried out by force,
is rebellion, and should be treated as such, by
those whose sworn duty it is to maintaiu the
supremacy of the Constitution aud laws of the
United Slates
It is certainly true, that iu cases of great
extremity, "when the oppression of government
has lieeome so intolerable that civil war is
preferable to longer submission, there remains
the revolutionary right of resistance; but
where the authority of the government is lim
ited by a written Constitution, and each de
partment is held in check by the other depart
ments, it will rarely, if ever, happen that the
citizen may not lie adequately protected, with
out resorting to the sacred and inalienable right
to resist and destroy a government which has
been perverted to a tyranny.
But, while denying the right of a State to
absolve its citizens from the allegiance which
they owe tj the Federal Government, it is
nevertheless highly proper that we should care
fully and candidly examine the reasons which
are advanced by those who Lave evinced a de
termination to destroy the Union of these
Ameiicau States, and if it shall appear thai
any uf the causes of complaint are well found
ed, they should be unhesitatingly removed, and
as far as pos.-i hie, reparatiou made for the
past, and security given for tae future ; for
it is .iot to te tolerated, that a government
created by the people, and maintained for
their benefit, should do injustice to any portion
of its citizens.
After asserting her right to withdraw from
the Uuion, South Carolina, through her con
vention, among other reason?, declares that
she is justified iu exercising, at this time, that
right, because several of the States have for
years not only refused tofuffil their constitution
obligations, but have enacted laws either nul
lifying the Constitution, or rendering useless
the acts of Congress relative to the surrender
of fugitive slaves—that they have permitted
the open establishment of societies, to disturb
the peace of other States ; that the people of
the uou-slaveholding States have aided in the
escape of slaves from their masters, and have
incited to servile insurrection those that re
main—and have announced their determina
tion to exclude the South from the common
territory of the Union. As the Representa
tives of the people of Pennsylvania, it be
comes your solemn duty to examine these se
rious charges, made by the authority of a so?-
ereigu State.
Pennsylvania is included in the list of States
that are charged with having refused compli
ance with that uiaudate of the Constitution of
the United States, which declares " that no
person held to service or labor in one State,
under the regulations therein, be discharged
from such service or labor, but shall be deliv
ered up, on claim of tho party to whom such
service or labor may be due." So far from
admitting the truth of this charge, I unhesi
tatingly aver, that, upon a careful examina
tion, it will be found that the legislative and
judicial action of Pennsylvania, whether as a
colony, as a member of the old confedera
tion, or under the existing Constitution of the
Uuited Stales, has been almost invariably in
fluenced by a proper appreciation of ber owu
obligations, aud by a high regard tor the rights,
the feelings aud the interests of her sister
States.
As early as 17OA, the provincial authorities
of Pennsylvania, after reeitiog in the pream
ble, that '* the importation of lodiau slaves
from Carolina, or other places, hath been ob
served to give the Indians of this province
some umbrage for suspicion and dissatisfac
tion,'' passed an act agaiust the importation of
ludiau slaves lrom any other province, or col
ouy, in Atner.ea, but at the same time declar
ed, "that so such ludiau slave, as deserting
his master's service elsewhere, ?hall fly into
this province, shall be understood or constru
ed to be comprehended within this act." And
wheu, in 187U, more than eight years bcfoio
the Constitution of the United States went
koXCLLDED O.N iOl'Rrfl. rAsfc 1